How Cellphone Companies Could Make Their Service 10x Faster On Your Current Phone

In the next few years, it looks like we might finally reach a
point where we can consume data-heavy content like HD video
without being limited by the cell networks we use to reach it.

That would be a total change from what we've considered "normal"
for more than half a decade.

Since the iPhone first launched, the amount of data going to our
phones has increased dramatically.

With the iPhone, we saw how great it could be to have access to
the music and video content from anywhere — kind of.

There was a YouTube app, but 2G data was painfully slow. Wi-Fi
made that feature shine.

As the years have gone by, the networks we use have rolled out
increasingly better service, moving us first to 3G (which made
apps like Twitter and Facebook bearable to use on our phones) to
LTE today, which has made it possible for autoplaying video and
embedded GIFs to make their way from our desktop web browsers to
the device in our pocket.

Unfortunately, it seems like we've hit a new plateau in terms of
what LTE can provide.

Go to a sporting event, concert, or public space like Times
Square and try to upload a video to Instagram. Chances are, it'll
take forever or not work at all.

Now, it seems that cellular companies are looking at rolling out
pCell technology on their own networks.

In a recent demonstration at Stanford University,
Perlman revealed that approximately half of the world's mobile
operators (by revenue) have reached out to Artemis to discuss
rolling out their own pCell networks "ASAP."

While the 10x speed boost that could come with rolling out pCell
radios, known as "pWaves," on current cell towers is
eye-catching, the real benefit seems to be that the smartphone
experience would be more consistent: You'd be able to watch HD
video or upload dozens of pictures to the cloud from anywhere —
no more dropped bars.

In his demonstration, Perlman draws from an Ericsson
study that shows how service degrades as you move away from cell
towers. LTE or 4G can usually handle HD video and music as long
as you're pretty close to the tower. Only voice and texting are
reliable in the entirety of a cell tower's coverage area — which
was fine before the advent of smartphones as we know them
today.

The thing is, voice is becoming less important on cell
networks as time goes on. As phone calls become less important,
the lack of consistent service within traditional cell networks
becomes a bigger issue.

It's not hard to see why cell carriers are interested in
Artemis' technology: they could start rolling it out using the
same infrastructure that powers their towers and instantly
provide better services for the millions of people with LTE
devices.